What Does The Future Hold?
We know that it's possible to pre-calculate the DAG for a given Epoch. Consequently, we can know in advance how a graphics card will perform in three, six, or 12 months.
We chose to test these cards at their stock frequencies and also with our settings optimized for a given power consumption (indicated on each chart). Last, the Radeons were tested with their original BIOSes and our modified firmware, optimizing the GDDR5 timings.
Preliminary Observations
- The GeForce GTX 1060 3GB does not have enough memory starting with DAG Epoch 180 (just months away) to mine Ethereum using Claymore!
Analysis
- The performance for GeForce cards does not vary, no matter the size of the DAG. And from here on out, Radeons will have the same performance using AMD's Blockchain drivers. This wasn't the case previously.
- The performance of certain Radeon cards drops slightly with the largest DAG Epoch, particularly when we optimize GPU clock rate and voltage for improved efficiency. The GPU performance of cards like the Radeon R9 390 could therefore prove to be insufficient above a certain DAG Epoch, at which point you'll need to dial in a higher frequency (necessitating higher voltages and more power consumption) to maintain the same hash rate. GeForce cards do not seem to exhibit this behavior, which could be attributed to the larger performance overhead available for these GPUs.
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